The Mannaeans (or Mannai, Mannae, Biblical Minni) were an ancient people of unknown origin, who lived in the territory of present-day Iranian Azerbaijan around the 10th to 7th century BC. At that time they were neighbours of the empires of Assyria and Urartu, as well as other small buffer states between the two, such as Musasir and Zikirta.

Their original homeland was situated east and south of the Lake Urmia, roughly centered around modern-day Mahabad,^* and at their greatest extent their borders expanded as far as the Kura river. Excavations that began in 1956 succeeded in uncovering the fortified city of Hasanlu.

The original ethnic and linguistic affinities of the populace are uncertain. They are sometimes considered to have been of non Indo-European origin; however some historians see close similarities between Mannaeans and Indo-Iranian groups such as Scythians. The Mannaeans may also have been a branch of Hurrians (Khurrites), who although not linguistically Indo-European, are believed to be a main ancestor of the Kurds. The term Mannaean could be taken to mean place of moon if it is derived from a word simlar to the Kurdish word mang. The Iranian name of the region, 'Mahabad' (mah+abad) is also possibly a reference to Mannaeans.

History

The kingdom of Mannai began to flourish around 850 BC. Mannaeans were mainly a settled people, practicing irrigation and breeding cattle and horses. The capital was another fortified city, Izirtu (Zirta).

By the 820's BC they had expanded to become the first large state to occupy this region, later followed by the Medes and the Parsu (Persians). By this time they had a prominent aristocracy as a ruling class, who somewhat limited the power of the king.

Beginning around 800 BC, the region became contested ground between Urartu, who built several forts on the territory of Mannae, and Assyria. During open conflict between the two, ca. 750-730 BC, Mannae seized the opportunity to enlarge its holdings. The Mannaean kingdom became strongest during the king Iranzu (ca. 725-720 BC).

In 716 BC, king Sargon II of Assyria moved against Mannae, where the ruler Aza, son of Iranzu, had been deposed by Ullusunu with the help of the Urartians. Sargon took Izirtu, and stationed troops in Parsuash (original home of Persian tribe, on lake Urmia) and Kar-Nergal (Kishesim). The Assyrians thereafter used the area to breed, train and trade horses.

According to one Assyrian inscription, the Cimmerians (Gimirru) originally went forth from their homeland of Gamir or Uishdish in "the midst of Mannae" around this time. The Cimmerians first appear in the annals in the year 714 BC, when they apparently helped the Assyrians to defeat Urartu. Urartu chose to submit to the Assyrians, and together the two defeated the Cimmerians and thus kept them out of the Fertile Crescent. Some authors even believe they were mercenaries resettled there by Sargon following the deportation of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, whom the Assyrians knew as Khumri. At any rate, the Cimmerians had again rebelled from Sargon by 705, the year he fell to them in battle, and by 679 they had migrated to the east and west of Mannae.

The Mannaeans are recorded as rebelling against Esarhaddon of Assyria in 676 BC, when they interrupted the horse trade between Assyria and Parsuash.

The king Ahsheri, who ruled until the 650's BC, continued to enlarge the territory of Mannae. However, Mannae suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Assyrians around 660 BC, and revolt broke out, continuing until Ahsheri's death. Also in the 7th century BC, Mannae was defeated by the advancing Scythians, who had already encroached upon Urartu, somewhat later (585 BC) destroying it as well. This defeat contributed to the further break-up of the Mannaean kingdom.

King Ahsheri's successor, Ualli, took the side of the Assyrians against the Medes (Madai), who were at this point still based to the east along the Southwest shore of the Caspian Sea. However, in the ensuing decades of conflict, it appears the Medes eventually gained the upper hand, conquering the remnants of Mannae in 616 BC and absorbing the populace.

External links

• Mannaean art
• Kingdom of Mannai Regnal chronologies
• Mannaean glazed bricks from Bukan